The judge of the jail killing case blamed the investigation officer (IO) of faulty investigation and said all the killers of the four national leaders could not be awarded capital punishment due to negligence of the IO.

The Judge Mohammad Motiur Rahman presented details of flaws in the probe by the IO Abdul Kahar Akand.

"Faulty investigation is the reason behind damaging the merit of the case," the judge said, adding, "The IO did not investigate many important aspects, failed to prove many things including the conspiracy behind the assassinations and presented faulty documents."

"The IO did not conduct any investigation into the role played by two or three accomplices of captain Moslemuddin who led the killing squad," said the judge.

"The identity of all the killers could be learnt and the court might award them capital punishment had the IO conducted a proper investigation after consulting necessary papers and documents from the army headquarters," he said.

Information on all the people directly involved in the killings could not be found due to the severe flaws in his investigation, the judge added.

Abdul Kahar Akand was the fourth IO of the case who started his investigation into the case in 1996 and submitted the charge sheet in 1998.

"There was severe weakness in the investigation," Public Prosecutor Abdullah Mahmood Hassan told journalists, adding, "The IO did not mention the supplementary charge sheet during his deposition."

The verdict might be tougher had the IO not acted on his whims, he commented.

Meanwhile, BNP lawmaker KM Obaidur Rahman told journalists after his acquittal that he would soon file a defamation case against the IO.

"I'm going to discuss it with my attorney," he said, adding, "I suffered three years in jail for nothing. My name was intentionally added into the charge sheet in 1998."